Lee County minister makes pro-Hillary Clinton commercial
Wayne Robinson, a retired minister in Fort Myers and outspoken Democrat, was chosen as the star of a TV ad by a national super-PAC that’s helping Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Robinson is now part of the “Local Voices” project, which has won national awards for its professional ads that feature members of a community speaking about their choice for president.
The group focuses on smaller communities where they think they can gain ground with moderate Republicans by using a local person who’s well-known and respected Instead of using actors as most ads do, Local Voices founder Lee Hirsch said, “we think it’s more authentic to find someone in the community and give them space to speak in their own words.”
The 60-second ad is already airing on some local TV cable channels, as well as on YouTube and Facebook.
Hirsch said they “discovered” Robinson through online research and talking with Democratic leaders in the area. After talking with Robinson, Hirsch said, they decided he’d be a good subject.
A professional video crew came to Fort Myers from NYC and Los Angeles about two weeks ago, Robinson said, and spent a day with him, visiting various locations, including a church and a child care cente, while Robinson talked about why he has problems with Donald Trump and will vote for Clinton.
No scripts were used; the day’s events and Robinson’s comments were boiled down to the 60-second ad.
Hirsch said they’re doing similar ads in a few cities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, as well as elsewhere in Florida.
All their “stars” are local people of influence, he said, and many are Republicans who talk about the reasons they cannot vote for Donald Trump and will instead vote for Clinton.
Betty Parker is a freelance reporter specializing in politics. This is one item from her weekly column. You can read the column in its entirety in Saturday's The News-Press or at http://www.news-press.com/story/news/politics/betty-parker/2016/09/23/lizbeth-benacquisto-part-21st-century-oncology-layoffs/90921750/